


Stuck

by suallenparker



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Anti Ward, F/M, Fluff, Love Confessions, Mentions of Death, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, Post Season 3, angst and happy endings, playing a game, stuck in an elevator trope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-18 13:43:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8163950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suallenparker/pseuds/suallenparker
Summary: Set after 3x22; May and Coulson get stuck in an elevator and he gets bored. Since there’s no way to run, she agrees to play a game …





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is dedicated to the wonderful @pooritalianfan, whose encouragement was crucial to getting this one shot finished. Thank you so very much for keeping me focused and for all of your wonderful words of support!

This was why she hated undercover missions.

This should’ve been an easy mission, just go to the party, bug the laptop of the sketchy arms dealer with party fever and get out. But of course that stupid party had to be on a roof top and of course she had to wear stupid high heels and a short dress and smile and make small talk.

And on top of all of it, they got stuck in a stupid elevator.

Melinda gritted her teeth and kicked off her shoes while she glared at Phil.

This was all his fault.

He raised his hands. “This isn’t my fault!”

Then who told her to take just one last mission before she would switch to her new job as training supervisor? Who promised her this would be a fun night out like the old times?

Phil swallowed. “I really couldn’t know that the elevator would get stuck.”

She squinted at him. Still!

At least they were on their way back to base and the mission was completed.

He took of his jacket and put it on the floor before he sat down on the floor next to it. “Here,” he said and patted the jacket. “Don’t want your dress to get dirty.”

Oh, damn him!

With a sigh, she settled down next to him and leaned against the wall. She wished she could sit cross legged. Stupid dress!

“Would you rather want to live in the Star Force or the Star Wars Universe?” he asked. His head rested against the wall and he turned to face her.

Hadn’t she glared at him enough? Seemingly not. She shot him another glare.

“Come on, this will be fun!”

“You saying that is what got us stuck in an elevator.”

“That’s an oversimplification!”

Nope. It was just that simple. She glared at him some more.

He just smiled.

Damn him again.

She sighed. “What is _this_ exactly?”

“I call it Truth Truth,” he said. “It’s a mix of Truth or Dare and Twenty questions.”

Truth Truth? Really?

He seemed inappropriately pleased with himself. “It works like this; one of us asks a question, the other one asks truthfully and then gets to ask a question and the other has to answer truthfully.”

She just gave him a long look.

He swallowed. “Best of both worlds.”

What had she gotten herself into? “When will it end?” she asked.

“When Mack gets us out of here.”

Wonderful. “So two hours.” They had talked to him five minutes ago as soon as the elevator had stopped moving. She sighed. “You really wanna play this game?”

“What else would we do?”

Breaking out of this thing wasn’t an option because there were cameras and guards watching the video feed. Of course they would destroy the videos later but the guards catching them break out of an elevator would be harder to explain away.

She sighed again. “Fine. I start.”

“Perfect!” He grinned.

Time to change tactics. “Do you feel guilty about Ward’s death?” she asked. He would hate to answer that so they would forever be stuck at that question until they’d be freed and she could sit here in silence and -

“Yes,” he said calmly, collected.

Damn it. She knew that tone. She had used it whenever she had been forced to talk about her feelings about Bahrain.

“Which one of my puns did you enjoy the most?” he asked, lightly.

She pressed her lips together and looked at him. Keeping it all bottled up wouldn’t help him, she knew from experience.

So she waited.

“I deserve that guilt,” he said and looked to the floor. He folded his hands in his lap. “I earned it, so I’ll live with it.”

“You know after Bahrain -”

He shook his head. “I didn’t kill him to protect others or in self defense.” He looked at her. “I had him detained, May. I could’ve brought him in alive.”

Her heart clenched. She could see so much disgust in his eyes. Self hatred …

He shrugged. “I just killed him.”

She wished she could take that pain away from him. She wished she could say something to help him heal. But nothing.

Instead she had to settle for this; “The pun about the digging and the bones only made me roll my eyes lightly.”

And thank god, he smiled. “Such high praise!” he said and snorted.

“Do you feel guilty for Rosalind’s death?” she asked.

“Yes.” Quicker, this time. “Do you miss Andrew?”

“Yes.” Of course. She swallowed. “Did you and Andrew talk about me? When you went to him during …”

“While I was losing my mind?” he asked. “No.”

She frowned. “No?”

“No.” He tilted his head. “Did you enjoy dancing with me tonight?”

Dangerous question! The answer would get to his head … “Yes,” she said.

He grinned. “I knew it!”

And there they went … But she wasn’t done with the topic before. “Why didn’t you talk about me?”

She had been responsible for Phil at the time. To shoot him in the head. She hated thinking about that time in their lives. But he was good now. She wouldn’t lose him. She just wouldn’t!

Phil shrugged. “Didn’t feel right. And I didn’t feel like getting punched in the face.”

“By me?”

“By him.”

She raised a brow.

“I asked you to shoot me. Just for that he would’ve punched me.” He snorted. “I wanted to punch myself for that.”

“It was your best choice,” she mumbled.

“I saw the look on your face, May.” He rubbed his face. “And I saw you after you had to shoot Andrew.” He pressed his lips together. “I’m sorry for that, too.”

Yeah, she was sorry too.

“Do you regret coming back to duty?” he asked.

“No.” She looked at her hands while she braced herself for her next question. “Did you love Rosalind?”

“We didn’t get that far,” he said. “We just …” He pulled his shoulders up and sighed. “I tried.”

Relief washed over her and she felt ashamed. He didn’t get as hurt as he could’ve been. He didn’t lose a loved one to a sociopath, that was something to be grateful for. Not the fact that he hadn’t loved someone else. She wished she could get over being jealous. She wished she could get over wanting more than she could ever ask of him.

They had boundaries for a reason!

“I sometimes worry you won’t come back, but you always do,” he said quietly. “I can always count on you to have my back.” His eyes were soft as he looked at her.

This was exactly what made it so hard for her to keep her distance when all she wanted was to kiss him. She cleared her throat. “That’s not a question.”

He tilted his head. “Why do you always return to SHIELD?”

“I’m always returning to you,” she said. She couldn’t stop looking into his eyes. She wondered who he saw.

When he leaned into her, she mirrored his movements without a second thought. Her breath got stuck in her throat and her eyes fell shut before his lips met hers.

He gave her the gentlest of kisses. He briefly cradled her face with his real hand and stroked her cheek before he pulled away.

“I love you,” he said.

Her heart was racing. “You don’t have to say that.” But she wanted to believe him so badly.

“I probably shouldn’t, but I do.” He took her hand into his and squeezed. “Is it a problem?”

She raised his hand to her mouth and pressed a kiss into his palm. “I love you, too.”

He smiled.

When he kissed her again, she grabbed the collar of his shirt and changed her position until she could face him better. With a soft moan, he cradled her face and deepened their kiss. She loved the feel of his lips on hers.

It was perfect.

Eventually he pulled back far enough to pepper her face with kisses.

She couldn’t stop smiling.

“We should probably stop kissing before Mack gets in here,” he mumbled and kissed the top of her nose.

She giggled. “So we have another hour.”

“Melinda …” He sounded breathless.

God, she wanted to kiss him again. And she would! She raised a brow. “Better than playing Truth Truth.”

“Don’t know about you but that game worked out great for me!”

She laughed and pulled him into another kiss. Maybe this undercover mission wasn’t so bad after all.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the [LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciatees feedback, including:
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